Girls hockey: Promising start for Falmouth

FALMOUTH — The Falmouth girls hockey team began its march back to the state finals — this time intent on winning the championship — with a dominating performance Saturday night, overwhelming Algonquin Regional before an appreciative home crowd at the Falmouth Ice Arena.

FALMOUTH — The Falmouth girls hockey team began its march back to the state finals — this time intent on winning the championship — with a dominating performance Saturday night, overwhelming Algonquin Regional before an appreciative home crowd at the Falmouth Ice Arena.

The Clippers won, 2-0, and while it was close on the scoreboard, the outcome never seemed in doubt. Falmouth clearly had the more talented players and its speed and stick skills had Algonquin on the defensive most of the night.

Falmouth fired 54 shots at goaltender Sasha Barry, who was terrific, and she was only beaten once, by Madison Haberl, midway through the second period. Haberl's empty-net goal with a minute left officially sealed the victory.

Falmouth, now 14-2-4, moves on to the quarterfinals against Burlington. The Clippers were runners-up to Duxbury in the last two Division 2 state finals, but Duxbury is now in Division 1.

"We're really trying not to look ahead," said Falmouth coach Erin Hunt. "Anything can happen in the tournament. This was a one-goal game, and while I thought we controlled the play, a bounce here or there could have changed things. We need to keep our focus on the team we're playing and go one day at a time."

Coming off a nine-day layoff from its last regular-season game, Falmouth was sharp from the outset. The Haberl-Maggie MacDonald-Ericka Meissner line created early opportunities. Haberl, in particular, was electric with her speed and puck handling.

The Clippers twice hit the post in the first period, the first one by Emily Sanidas and then by Haberl. Those pipes set the tone for a frustrating night for Falmouth.

"We talked on the bench about sticking to the game plan," said Hunt. "We tried to keep our emotions in check and just keep grinding."

Haberl, who had at least a half-dozen excellent chances, finally solved Barry in the second period when she snapped in a low, quick shot from the slot.

Any thoughts of that goal opening the flood gates to a Falmouth rout were snuffed out by Barry, who stood her ground with 22 saves in the second period.

"Maybe at times we were trying to be too fine instead of just pulling the trigger and putting pucks on the net," said Hunt. "But give Algonquin credit. They did a nice job of closing down on us in front and cleaning up rebounds. And their goalie was phenomenal."

Haberl's empty-net goal came during a frantic finish when Algonquin was on a power play and skating six on four with Barry pulled. Haberl controlled the puck deep in her own end and weaved her way past center ice, creating an easy shot with bursts of speed.

It was offense by accident for Algonquin most of the game. The Tomahawks, the 19th seed in the bracket with a 9-7-4 record, rarely tested Falmouth goalie Madison Scavotto. Her toughest saves came on fluttering, knuckleball changeups, but she maintained her concentration to make the stops.